Scanlon - Everything you wanted to know about magick but were afraid to ask

Photo by Hillary Roney

About the Author

Shawn Martin Scanlon (Los Angeles) has studied, practiced, and taught magick for more than twenty-two years. He has worked with Enochian magickal groups, Thelemic and Golden Dawn orders, and taught private magick classes, sifting through many occult traditions to distill magick down to its most useful particulars. He teaches only what has brought him tangible results. Visit him online at www.whatismagick.com.

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Everything You Want to Know About Magick (But Were Afraid to Ask) 2012 by Shawn Martin Scanlon.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2012

E-book ISBN: 9780738733746

Book design by Bob Gaul
Cover art: Background images iStockphoto.com/CTR design LLC
Cover design by Lisa Novak

Editing by Patti Frazee

All interior art Llewellyn art department and Shawn Scanlon, with the following exceptions:

Art on page Magic and Mystical Symbols , Dover Publications, Inc., 2004. Rider Tarot card illustrations based on those contained in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Edward Waite, published by William Rider & Sons Ltd., London, 1911.

Courtesy of Liam Quin at www.fromoldbooks.org:

Seere sigils and seals on pages The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King, translated by Samuel MacGregor Liddel Mathers, Ed. Aleister Crowley, 1904 (reprinted by Weiser, 1995). The Lamen of Frater Achad The Equinox, Vol. III, No. I, Ed. Aleister Crowley, 1919. Sigillum Dei Aemeth John Dees original 16th century manuscript in the Sloane collection at the British Museum, reprinted in The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic , Regardie, Israel, Falcan Press, 1984.

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

For Nuit & Izabael

Contents

: The Language of Magick

: The Equilibrating Ritual of the Pentagram

: The Tree of Life

: Wealth Magick

: Magick Tools & Weapons; Revenge Magick

: The Holy Guardian Angel, Being in the Moment & Healing Magick

: Love Magick

: The Ubiquitous Mercury & Demonology

: Astral Plane, Pathworking & Divine Eroticism

: The Human Body, Change & Transformation; Ritual Construction

: Where Do I Go From Here?

Introduction

Real magick scares people as much as it fascinates them. Where does the power come from? Is it real? Is it safe? What are the limits? Can I learn to perform magick myself?

Everything You Want to Know About Magick (But Were Afraid to Ask) answers all these questions and every other question you may have about how to perform your very own magick.

Lets get started by answering some of the most common questions regarding magick, this book, and myself as your guide through the world of magick and the occult.

Questions About Magick

What is magick?

Magick is the science and art of using the subconscious mind to effect change in the material world. In more specific terms, magick is using conscious stimulation (i.e., rituals, symbols, gestures, chanting, lighting, incense, sex, etc.) to harness latent powers within the subconscious mind (i.e., gods, genii, intelligences, angels, daemons, etc.) to make changes in our bodies, our minds, and the world around us.

What is Hermeticism?

There are many schools of magick, under a variety of terms, but Western magick finds its roots most strongly situated in Hermeticism, the religion and philosophy of the Hellenistic culture. This term frequently comes up in this book because Hermeticism has strongly influenced modern magick both directly and through the many authors and magicians it has inspired, including John Dee and Aleister Crowley, both influential magicians we will soon be learning more of.

Does magick really work?

The magick in this book most certainly works. I present you with only the very best concepts and techniques gleaned from my twenty-two years of magickal practice and study.

The meditations and rituals in this book are drawn from the most respected sources in magick, including Hermeticism, the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley, Wicca, and various schools of shamanism. Combine these teachings with a modern view of psychology and the human mind, and you have the key to unlocking magickal results like never before.

Why use magick?

Everyone has problems and everyone wants answers, so why turn to magick to make lasting life changes? For starters, magick is rooted in humanitys ancient past. Magick includes concepts, teachings, and symbols that resonate to the deepest core of our subconscious minds. This is wisdom clearly articulated by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, which was then filtered and built upon by generations of mankinds greatest thinkers both in the East and West.

Magick works because it is the most up-to-date psychology that existsand it does so by drawing on the traditions of our ancient past, not by denigrating them.

I am a great friend of science; however, it disappoints in its narrowness of scope and its inability to produce lasting harmony or growth in humanity. Science is the blundering missionary bringing antibiotics to the local villages. While that is certainly useful, it is no replacement for the wise and beneficent tribe shaman who takes care of the emotional and spiritual needs of the villagers, curing psychological aliments as well as physical ones. Magick is the epitome of effectiveness when it comes to changing peoples lives and making them happy.

Magick is about taking charge of your spirituality now and putting it to good use in your life where you can see, taste, and feel the changes it produces. Magick is more than a religion or philosophy as it takes from all philosophies and all religionswhatever works the best. That is the spirit of magick and the spirit of Everything You Want to Know About Magick (But Were Afraid to Ask) .

Who is magick for?

Magick is for everyone. It is for the butcher, the athlete, the painter, the musician, and the banker. It is for the lawyer, the doctor, and the mountain man. Magick is about taking your life, your art, your love, and your career to the next level, all the while increasing your joy and satisfaction with who you are and what you spend your time doing.